Comments on: USMNT and CONCACAF: Strong USL Ties

By: hakeemkumi

hakeemkumi — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:04:19 +0000

hello
i’m hakeemkumi and i’m looking for a team in another country to play and i know that some body here is there looking for a player and i can be good and somebody too will like me as the team like and i can be like drogba and i make money and everybody know that players make money please help me

By: soccer goals

soccer goals — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:54:35 +0000

What a large list. USL has developed sever strong players.

By: Ric

Ric — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:19:10 +0000

“Any idiot would after all Fernando managed him at the national team level and signed him for the MLS before he floated down to USL.”

er….yeah! What kind of an asshole would ever do that?!?!

By: Lars

Lars — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:25:07 +0000

As previously mentioned, this is for Gold Cup call ups only.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:05:34 +0000

DeRo actually made his mark with the Richmond Kickers prior to going to MLS.

By: Kartik Krishnaiyer

Kartik Krishnaiyer — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:44:15 +0000

Born into Soccer,

I agree with your most recent comment.

Ric,

Yes I know, actually a major typo with the HTML which I tried to fix which is why it is underlined. I tried to undo it (it automatically did it because of the guy below and I tried to change it and it didn’t.). Obviously I remember him with the Rapids. Any idiot would after all Fernando managed him at the national team level and signed him for the MLS before he floated down to USL.

By: Ric

Ric — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:55:20 +0000

Kartik,
Fabrice Noel, who you have listed as not having played in MLS, played 16 games and scored two goals for the Colorado Rapids before being waived and signing with the Islanders.

He did have an article written about him in Sports Illustrated, after all…

By: BornIntoSoccer

BornIntoSoccer — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:27:58 +0000

Sav… you’ve got it all wrong. The only mention of MLS in there was to say that it’s minimum salary from 1996-1999 was embarrassing ($24K). My next post, written just before yours, goes to explain why it’s also wrong to consider the USMNT players who played in MLS as a barometer for that league (MLS), because MLS is the only option for those players, and once they play out their forced-upon 4-year contract, the very talented US players will all leave for $$greener$$ pastures. Not the words of a MLS lackey; quite the contrary. I’m a realist, not a paid spokesperson.

By: Sav

Sav — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:11:34 +0000

Kartik,

It is disappointing you would feel compelled to respond to that post. MLS people are constantly trying to marginalize the exposure or credibility of USL. That guy was probably no more than an MLS paid or sponsored tool.

By: BornIntoSoccer

BornIntoSoccer — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:06:47 +0000

Thanks for the response… and also to you and the others who make this site happen. Always great to have a forum to learn new things and discuss interesting topics.

In addition to the potential “perks” of signing with a USL team, USL clubs are much more willing to negotiate shorter length contracts with its players; whereas MLS requires all new players to lock in for 4 years. This is a direct result of USL clubs owning their own players’ rights as opposed to MLS clubs who do not (b/c all players are employees of the League, not club). USL clubs have much greater incentive to develop players and loan or sell their rights to other clubs, foreign clubs or MLS.

This brings me to one final comment on your last posting — to say that 17 or 18 of the 22 players on the USMNT Confeds Cup squad played in MLS at one point is true, but again potentially leads to a false conclusion on the state of MLS. The true reason for that figure is that around 95% (i’m making that up but it’s close) of all 16-22 year old Americans who are at a stage to go pro (i.e., whether they personally decide to complete college or not) do not have access to European clubs, whether this stems from lack of exposure, lack of interest, lack of US Nat’l Team caps (for work permit reasons), lack of an EU passport (for other league restrictions), etc. Therefore, MLS is pretty much the only game in town (for the services of a “division 1 professional soccer player”). That is why (1) MLS can sign young players at well-below-market salaries, and (2) MLS is forced to wave goodbye after 4 years (of indentured servitude) to those players who develop and have the ability to go abroad and earn (typically) 8-20x what they made in MLS the prior year. If the point is that MLS has cultivated these young talents, I completely agree. The League is getting better each year, which further helps develop our young players, but it is still not at the level of top European clubs in ability and WAY, WAY far behind in terms of ability to pay market wages. Per the Ivan Gazidis/Mark Abbott business model — which was genius for the league’s survival and growth — slow and steady wins the race.